Moving to Vietnam! And munching on Korean Beef Bánh Mì ;)

Until now, really, I’ve been hard pressed to find my daily life worth writing about. Oh SURE I bake so constantly that I could probably write a post thrice weekly chock-a-block stuffed with my various mistakes and inventions (see diagram A: 1rst blog “KamutflakeGirl” ; vegan, irreverent, long-running, long-dead, fairly prolific tho). I wrote about any damn thing back then, and I arguably had less to say then, less than I do now.

I’m leaving the idea of being comfortable with posting about pancakes every so often and local restaurant reviews behind. I’m leaving Montreal, for a long time. I’m sorting my things and setting aside my fancy syrups (and exactly 4 jars of homemade preserves) and my nicest earrings only… and moving to Hanoi in September to teach English. Shocking!

Taste the rainbow, captured in glass. (The best batch is the brandied spiced apple butter made from apples I picked up from a nice Jewish family’s front lawn within sight of Fairmount Bagels, like a bandit at the first rays of dawn).

I’ll miss working in kitchens, but I’m a little tired of robotic culinary middle-management, skills left unchallenged and credentials left unproven. And so, while it’s a bit of deviation to pick up a professional career for a while (kitten heels purchased, pinstripe shorts hemmed, new resume invented, no immediate plans for tattoos – that idea) my secret path, my true savings plan is the Cordon Bleu pastry program in Dusit, Thailand. (My heart skips a beat, my skin glows at the mention of the future, I will tell no whisp of a lie here). Everything’s affordable! In time. With wisdom. With obsession.

one moment, and then —

all things in motion, change is the rule.

And woo, lo, but those two years between are going to be doozies of adventure. With my love and alien-friend Omar who shall pursue his own anthropological studies of this strange thing we call humanity, together we’ll try our bestest to post as much of the journey as possible, in wizard-levels of colour.

The cats, naturally, are coming with us, too. It’s the four of us! For now, we’re just whetting their appetite for the local cuisine with homemade banh mi sandwiches made with Korean beef like sum kinda Vietnamese/French/Korean mashup of Get-In-Mah-Belly Brand dinnerstyles.

PS THIS IS SO SUPER COOL ! :O It almost beats that heart-shaped boiled egg thing.

I’m leaving the slow-cooker instructions, but I used my oven at the lowest setting possible and it worked out great.

1/2 cup beef broth

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons fish sauce (optional, obviously, but I did it)

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 large onion, thinly sliced (I used 1 cup of sliced green onions)

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 beef blade roast, 2-1/2 lb (or even slightly larger)

Stir all ingredients but meat together in the bowl of a slow cooker.

Place meat in the soy mixture and turn to coat. Cover and cook until beef is fork-tender, 5-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. (Note: cooking it on low is preferable, the meat just falls apart, it’s so tender.).

Remove beef from slow cooker and shred with a knife and fork, then return it to the sauce.